This episode takes place mostly in the Sunnydale Hospital. Buffy's taken ill and must deal with her own demons as well as Der Kinderstod, who's offing sick children. No easy task, this. This episode also features Cordelia in research mode, and some good lines to take the edge off. And the end scene is sort of a return to the show of last season, as Buffy, Xander, and Willow are all hanging out in Buffy's room...Angel's minimally featured in this episode. After all, hasn't he done enough already?

PLOT:

Show opens with Buffy and company in the cemetery. Buffy's in a weakened state, and the gang is trying to help her bag some vamps. They tell her to go home and rest, but she says no, too many people have died already and she's determined to stop Angel. As luck (or the writers) would have it, Angel appears, and a fight ensues.

Angel first goes for Cordy, but then he and Buffy are left going one-on-one. When Angel finally seems to have the upper hand, the gang drops a coat over his head and Xander kicks at him. They then fend him off by holding up their crosses. Angel leaves, and Buffy passes out.

Cut to the hospital; Buffy's being admitted, and Willow and Cordy go to call Giles and Buffy's mom. Dr. Wilkinson tells them that Buffy's got the flu, but she'll be fine. Meanwhile, they want to keep her in the hospital. Buffy's being wheeled out on one of those gurney things, and she balks when she hears she can't leave. She starts babbling about killing vampires, leaving Giles to cover up, lest she blow the big secret identity thing. A moment later, Xander remarks that he's not used to seeing Buffy scared, and that's when Joyce tells the gang that Buffy's hated hospitals since her cousin Celia died in one when they were 8 years old. Buffy was alone with Celia when it happened, too. That's enough to give anyone the wig.

Joyce goes to call Buffy's dad Hank, and she offers Giles her condolences on the death of Miss Calendar.

Basically Buffy's told she's gotta stay in the hospital for a while, and she ends up running into some kids who tell her that Death comes at night and kills the kids.

Buffy has some nightmares about her cousin's death, and in one, she sees this wacked-out-looking Monster thing who kind of looks like a cross between Freddy Krueger and Sam Eliott, if his hair were longer. Buffy gets up to investigate after the dream sequence is over, and overhears Dr. Wilkinson and Dr. Backer arguing about treatments for the kids. Ryan and a little girl show up, and Ryan tells Buffy that Death came for Tina.

Buffy tells the gang what happened the next day, but they don't really believe her at first. People start to think that maybe Dr. Backer's the one who's killing the kids. So basically what happens afterwards is that Giles and Willow go do some research, Xander and Cordy investigate stuff at the hospital....Cordy does a superb job of distracting Rogaine Boy, aka the hospital security guard. Snicker.

Because Xander wants to keep watch to head off Angel, it's decided that he'll stay at the hospital. Cordy later goes to assist Giles, and Willow helps out Buffy. If you think things're moving fast, it's 'cause I left out the part where Buffy sees Dr. Backer killed -- and I guess cleared of any alleged wrongdoing! -- and dragged by something invisible. Anyhoo, Cordy discovers that the demon they're dealing with is called Der Kinderstod, and Buffy realizes that in order to be able to see the demon, she needs to be injected with the same virus that the sick kids have. Willow helps her find the strains of the virus in Backer's office, and she gulps some of it down. It takes effect quickly, and when they go in search of Der Kinderstod, they're stopped by Dr. Wilkinson, who tries to send Buffy back to bed. Buffy gets the doctor off of her, and then Willow provides a distraction when security arrives. It's all about the frog fear!

Buffy runs into Xander and they go down to the basement. Big fighting ensues, Xander keeps the kids at bay -- the kids had bolted from their room, they didn't want to make it easy for Death, I guess -- and Buffy snaps the neck of Der Kinderstod.

Later, Buffy, Xander, and Willow are at Buffy's house, in her room, watching t.v. and driving Joyce crazy with their requests for chips and drinks. Joyce gives Buffy a letter from Ryan, and Buffy opens it to see a picture of herself standing over a bloody dead Death.

For more about this ep., check out Buffy's Character Page and the 511 page for the Xander/Cordy arc. I'm tryin' to be a bit less detailed here, okay? Thanks!

What Got the Job Done:

1. Buffy ingested some of the virus solution so that she'd be ill enough to see Der Kinderstod.2. Once Buffy could see Der Kinderstod, she fought him and eventually snapped his neck.

What We Learn in This Episode:

1. Hospitals freak Buffy out; her cousin died in one when they were little.2. Cordelia knows that Xander's still got his eye on Buffy.3. Xander likes cheesy chips.4. Buffy's good with kids. She tells Ryan that she knows adults don't believe their story about Death, but she does.

An Amusing Line:

"Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass." -- Cordelia to Giles, when he calls her out for not being tactful.